Pyrenean Pandemonium

Introduction







With the sad passing of our beloved German Shepherd who had served us well this ten years past and with the absence of the kids who had left home (although not without needing a little push), we found ourselves in a most envious position.



Whilst still young enough to enjoy life and yet old enough to have an overdraft to abuse, we went on our very first holiday abroad. As well as this new and enlightening experience we also found ourselves in the pub most nights, out in our boat at weekends or invited to parties and barbecues - life was rosy.



This entire aside there was something missing. As any long term dog owner who has lost their trusty companion can attest to; once you’ve had one and lost it, no matter how much you say that you are never going to go through that again, you inevitably do.



I remember saying how about a nice little golden lab, easily trained, no hassle, and a nice loyal little lap dog? But no, “let’s get something different” she said. We trawled through the breeds from giant poodles to afghan hounds. “What about a Newfoundland” I remember suggesting, they love the water, as do we. The subject of their tendency to continually drool came up. We decided that although a dog that constantly drooled was out of the question, this was the type of dog we were after; a large, slow, lumbering, cuddly rug.



Pyrenean Mountain Dog, never heard of them but they looked the part and after a brief study of the breed (five minutes on a web site), that was that. The hunt was on for a breeder with a litter of pups.



So we had a day off from the pub and set out to meet the breeder. She introduced us to her Crufts championship winning show dog as an example of what we could expect …. Then sent us home with a stubborn, psychotic, little monster all wrapped up in the skin of a cute, cuddly bundle of fluffy mischief.



This was the start, the start of the end, the end of our lives, our lives as we knew them. From here on in we had to either admit defeat and get rid of the spawn of Satan or keep giving of ourselves, our furniture, our cash flow and our lives.